Butterfly Wings
by Nico'sGirl
Summary: Post STWAOES, the Flock is steadily taking down Schools. So what happens when they get some new mutant members? And when the Erasers are recreated to be more like machines, what happens when one tries to think for himself? Lots of pairings, PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own the original characters and the plot of this story. Here I am writing my little ass of to keep you readers in new stories. And, I will admit I love it. But plz, all I want in return is for you to R&R!!!! Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, NICO'SGIRRRRL!!!

Max's POV

I wake up with a killer headache. Nothing different here. What is different is the concrete roof over my head and the friggin four boxy walls. And the knocked-out flock lying scattered around me. I sit up and look around, evaluating my surroundings. There's a camera on the wall. I give it the finger.

"Fang! Fang!" I crawl to his side and shake him. He opens his eyes and sits upright.

"Wha? What happened?" He looks around. "Are we where I think we are?"

"Right. The School got us." We had been going on a School-destroying rampage recently, and we were currently in Ontario. We had gone out to sack this weensy little town's School. But something had gone wrong. We'd tripped the alarm somehow and now they had us.

The rest of the flock is beginning to come to. Angel crawls over to sit by my side, along with Total. We dropped off Akila with my mom and sister.

Just then, a whitecoat enters a number code onto a keypad outside and comes into our room. Well, it's more like a cell. Anyway, the whitecoat comes in, takes one look at us, and scribbles something on his keyboard.

"Well, looky here!" I snarl, "Someone dropped by for a visit!"

He looks startled, as if he didn't know I could talk.

"Yes, I do indeed talk. I can also sing and dance. Got a snappy routine from _Mamma Mia_." I say, getting more glee than I should from watching him stammer.

"W-well, I'm afraid that's not relevant here. Now, I would very much like for you to answer a few questions." He says. Oh no, he's getting confident, I must squelch this once and for all!

"And I have some questions for you! First, did your mom pick out that shirt?" I say vindictively. He lets out a whimper and pulls his white coat to cover his pinstripe shirt.

"I see you are out of sorts." He says. Where'd he come from, the Victorian age? "I will come back later with that truth serum then." Truth serum? Oh, no way. My knees are still weak, but I manage a kick in his direction.

He dodges. Barely. "And perhaps a mild sedative." He murmurs.

"You're gonna need more than mild, boy!" I shout at him.

All I get is a door slammed in my face. I crawl to Nudge's side. "Did you get the code?" She nods quietly. Nudge walks unsteadily to the door. She places her hand on the metal and murmurs. "4... 8…1…5…" Her magnetic pull pushes down the little buttons on the keypad outside. With a little _ping_, the door opens, and we all stumble out. The hallway is wide enough to spread our wings, which have not been affected. There aren't any whitecoats in the hall.

We pass more doors like our own, trying to be as silent as possible. We hear voices coming from a room three down from where we are.

The door isn't locked. The voice is male. I signal for the flock to stop, but peer through the crack between the door and frame. There is a girl there, about my age with long raven black hair. There is a whitecoat with her and some burly orderly-ish guy. Her lip is bleeding.

"Where is he?" The whitecoat says, loudly. She answers by spitting on his shoes.

Then the orderly guy back-hand slaps her across the face. He then proceeds to beat the snot out of her.

I burst into the room, Fang following behind me. He jumps on the orderly guy's back, pressing between his shoulder blades and knocking the guy out. The girl roundhouse kicks the whitecoat in the face and he's down.

We burst into the hall, and then we're gone. I push the younger kids and Iggy out ahead of me. I run out along with Fang and I look back to the girl. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Fang are already in the air.

I look at her and gape. Because she is taking off. With her wings. That's right, _wings_.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: You know this might surprise you, but… um, how should I out this gently. I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM GODDAMN RIDE!!!!!! Thank you for your time.

"Hey!" I bellow, "Get your ass back here!!" I launch myself into the sky after her. I catch up to her easily without even needing to launch into overdrive. The dark-haired girl's flight is sloppy and unpracticed, like she only flies when absolutely necessary. And she doesn't use any fancy maneuvers like the flock and I learned, she just pumps her wings, pump pump pump. I drop down onto her back, causing her wings to fold. I flap furiously, softening our landing in the pine trees in the yard outside the School.

"You've got some serious explaining to do." I bark. Fang and the others are at my side. "What's your name? Who created you? What are you doing here? Who are the whitecoats looking for?" With each question, I give her skinny shoulders a shake, so hard that I hear her teeth rattle. I feel a little bad. She's emaciated, so sickly looking it makes me a little nauseous. She looks like one of those abandoned dogs on the ASPCA shows on the Animal Planet, so thin that every bone in her body sticks out, her eyes welling with tears, her neck bent, head drooping, but the big saucery eyes still turned upwards at me. Her thin black sweater makes her look even paler, if that's possible.

"One question at a time, if you don't mind." She says sarcastically, but the effect is ruined by her appearance. I can tell that if she was healthier, she would have had quite the bite, but now she looks like she can barely stand on her own. I wonder how she managed to kick that whitecoat. I'm sure if I removed her boot and wooly socks, I would reveal a purpling bruise, like the one on her cheek. I probably didn't even need to tackle her, she certainly would have dropped out of the sky soon enough.

She grins, then winces at the pain in her face, "My name's Mayzie." Mayzie pauses, then says, "And who do you think created me, if I'm here?" Mayzie rolls her eyes. I guess I should have known.

"But you haven't been here your whole life?" I say.

Mayzie shakes her head, "No, no. I just got taken yesterday morning, and they've been milking me for information about Tamarind ever since."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I say, putting up a hand, palm facing outwards, "Who the hell is _Tamarind_?" Pretty much, all this is just starting to sound like more inane pyschobabble form someone who's had one too many of the School's sedative-tinis. Too much can hurt the brain in some pretty odd ways. Maybe she's schizo, just another health problem to add to her bedraggled appearance.

"Tam's my brother." Mayzie says, acting like I should already have known this by now. " The School's gone after him real bad. They were never interested in him in particular, but I guess they just found out something about his experiment or genetic coding or whatever, and now they think he's real special. They're saying that if I give him up to them, he'll be happier, that he can be used to his full potential. I mean, I got no idea what they're talking about, but as his older sis, its my job to keep Tam safe, you know?" yeah, I thought as I surveyed my flock, I did know.

"Well, up until yesterday, Tamarind and I were just living as best we could, trying to make do wherever the wind blew us, you know, usually in the city. Then they jumped me when I went out for food. I still don't know where Tam is, if they got him or not…" Her tears bubble over her bottom eyelids. "But you've got to help me. You've just got to help me find him!"

I look at Fang, and he shrugs. "She's one of us, Max. She knows how to survive, its not too much responsibility. And if we help her escape and find her brother, who the School obviously needs really bad right now, its just another blow to the School. And another member of the flock will make great material for my blog. And the more popular the blog, the more people willing to stand up for our cause." Right, Fang and his God-damn blog. Unfortunately, I had to admit that he had a point. While I did find the blog childish and incredibly time-consuming, it had saved our asses back in Germany.

"Okay, Mayzie." I say, turning back to the dark girl, "I guess you know the rules of survival when your one of us." She nods, the tears still dripping rhythmically, but a tiny grin spreading across her face. "And, just so you know, I'm the boss in this flock. What I say goes."

"Really, I didn't notice," she says, sarcasm again, but its affects are once more lost.

I roll my brown eyes. She rolls her blue. My mind unconsciously tallies the similarities between Mayzie and I. There are quite a few. "Up and away." I murmur to the flock, and all six of us turn towards the night, lifting off. Mayzie catches on and extends her magpie black wings and follows behind Angel, the slowest, now tanking over that position and bringing up the rear. Then, that School is gone, a twinkle in the dark. Until Iggy activates the bomb he planted there.

Iggy and Gazzy exchange high-fives.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I'm watching Saw right now. I can't think of a creative disclaimer, I'm so very engrossed. I don't own Maximum Ride. Read and review plz! Xoxo Nico'sGirl

I fall back to where Mayzie is flying. Her face is pale and strained as she flaps her wings. Its obvious that she hardly ever flies. I should probably teach her a thing or two before she falls out of the sky like a rock. "Mayzie," I say, and she turns her head, breathing heavily, "Take us to the last place you saw Tamarind."

She nods happily, "Yeah, okay. We were crashing in a park not far from here."

After about two minutes, we reach the park. Its about 20 acres, a big rectangle with a little wooded area and a sculpture garden. There are benches scattered along the brick path and the outside of the big grassy area. We land outside the woods, and then continue on foot down the path. My stomach tickles. I'm nervous. I'm blindly following the lead of some girl I just met! Am I concussed? But its so hard to resist Mayzie's big, hurt eyes.

Mayzie lets out a little gasp and then runs forward amazingly fast for someone of her size. There's a tree up ahead, an enormous one, with thick, long branches. One branch stretches all the way across the path to the other side, mingling with branches from the other trees. Its wide enough for someone to lie down on and not fear of falling off. A shredded red bedroll hangs from the limb. Mayzie puts one thin hand to her mouth, and the other strokes the bedroll. There are blood spatters on the bark.

I reach out and touch the blood. "Hey, guys, its still warm. As in fresh! They're not far from here. Angel, what are you picking up?"

Angel closes her eyes in concentration and Nudge strokes her hand along the branch, shuddering. "They left about a minute and a half ago. Tamarind put up a huge fight. They went up the path that way." Nudge says, pointing toward the rear exit of the park. Angel nods.

"Yeah, I can hear them, Max!" She says. "They're putting him into a van. And… Max?" Her big eyes look like little pools of worry. I kneel down next to her and put my hands on her shoulders.

"What is it sweetie?" I try not to let my desperation show in my voice. We're so close, so close!

"The Erasers are back." She says, her voice trembling. I look up at the Flock. Iggy and Gazzy both have their mouths open in an "oh my God" expression. Nudge looks at her feet and Fang just shrugs in a way that says, "It had to happen sooner or later".

"Angel? Are they the… same? I thought they were obsolete?" Just when everything seemed to be working out, this had to happen. We just never get lucky, do we?

"No, no. They're different. They're more in control and they don't have wings, cuz I guess that just didn't work and… They're smoother, I guess. More efficient." Angel says, her blue eyes filled up with concern. "And they don't really… Max, what's it called when you can decide things for yourself?"

"Umm, free will, honey?" I say in a shaky voice. Where is this going, exactly?

"Yeah, they have that but its really weak, and its like the School is controlling them to do what they want. And a few Erasers aren't as convinced, but they can't do much to stop themselves form doing all the bad things."

"All right, Angel." I say as I stand up and look at the Flock, "Maybe we can take out a couple of these new robot Eraser things while we save Tamarind. Okay, Flock, and Mayzie, let's move!"

We did an up and away and followed the street. There was one of those creepy white vans that always make you think of kidnappers and rapists on the road below us. I saw the logo for the Institute of Higher Living on the side using my raptor vision, so I gave the signal for us to nosedive. In strict, practiced formation, we all dipped toward the creeper van. Well, Mayzie wasn't too practiced, but she followed our lead. Fang, Angel, and Gazzy landed on the roof of the van with a muted thud. Iggy, Nudge, Mayzie, and I follow behind the van. The van speeds up, making breakneck turns and going over 80. Angel slides off the roof and onto the hood of the kidnapper van, her back pressing up on the windshield. The van swerves as it tries to dislodge Angel, but she holds on like Gorilla Glue.

_Max, they're blocking my signals, I can't get them to stop! _Angel's annoyed thoughts reach me.

Aw, crap. This just keeps getting worse. My pissed offed-ness gives me a spurt of energy that allows me to reach the handles of the doors on the back of the van. I hold on, then slow my wings down a little, which causes the door to jerk open. The drivers are apparently freaking out about losing any of their precious cargo. The van slows down very quickly, which cause me, Mayzie, Nudge, and Iggy to tumble inside, since we're still flying fast.

Once we get to our feet, I look around. There are bunches of what look like weapons, and a table bolted to the wall and covered with a plastic case so none of the little beakers and vials and monitors fall out due to the van's motion. And next to the table there's a… TANK. Its filled with water. Just like the one I was trapped in at Itex in Florida.

Oh my God. I feel myself reeling where I stand. "He's in the water! Get him out!" I bark.

Mayzie shows a surprising amount of pep by jumping into the tank with Tamarind. She pulls his upper body out of the water, and Nudge rips the sensors off his bare chest. The monitors fizz then make that annoying flatline noise. Iggy helps the frail Mayzie lift her brother out of the dark tank and onto the floor.

The whole time, he's been pretty out of it, his eyelids fluttering. But the second he touches the bumpy floor of the van and feels the movement of the vehicle, he starts screaming like a little schoolgirl.

I wince. I know what he's feeling. When I came out the tank, everything I touched felt like fire for a few seconds.

Tamarind is now just whimpering a little and shaking violently. I take my first good look at him.

He looks a lot like his sister. I'm guessing that they're twins. They are both pretty pale with black hair, except his is in no way as long as hers, but longish by guy standards, I guess. I'm not exactly a teen beauty expert. He doesn't look so powerful, not powerful enough for the school to be interested in him.

"Mayzie, oh my God, Mayzie!" Tamarind gasps and then bursts into tears. I'm a little surprised, cuz, you know, I've never seen a fifteen year old guy cry before, but I don't say anything. I let them have their moment. Mayzie rubs her twin's hair tenderly.

"As your older sister, I felt the obligation to come back for you." She says with a grin.

"3 damn minutes older, May." He mutters into her soaked turtleneck sweater.

"Tam, can you fly?" she says, "Tam, we have to get out of here." Tam wipes his eyes and nods. He spreads his wings shakily and, following behind us. He almost hits the ground when he takes off, but picks himself up before he splats.

Angel, Gazzy, and Fang stop harassing the drivers and take off with us. Fang swoops down to my right. "Max, what's the plan?"

Right, right, the plan. I shrug, and say what I always do when I really don't have a plan. "Mom's house in Arizona. We need time to rest up and stuff." That answer seems to please him, since he nods the goes back to his place in our formation.

I squint at the sunset as I fly home.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Wish I did though…. Sometimes it haunts me in my dreams…. JK. I'm not THAT creepy! Anyway, enjoy this chappie, especially since I haven't updated in foreverrrrr. Don't forget to REVIEW please xoxo Nico'sGirl

It's past midnight when we get to Arizona. Lucky for me, my mom is used to me coming home at ungodly hours, along with a bunch of hungry teenagers. I ring the doorbell, and within a few minutes my mom is there, ready to welcome me. The Flock is all crowded on the porch behind me. I give her a tight hug, and she smells like chocolate chip cookies. _Yes_ I think to myself, _This was totally worth the wait… and the abandonment issues I endured all my life._ Still, I can't help but feel a little guilty that I now have what everyone else in the Flock has been lusting after their entire lives. I can only imagine how much Gazzy and Angel hurt, knowing that their mom gave them up, while my mom is right here taking me in.

But enough with the sappy stuff. We all file past her through the door as we enter the house, and she gives each of us a once-over. She stops when Mayzie and Tamarind pass by her.

Her voice is cool and collected even when she's presented with the shock of two new Flock members. That's one thing I love about her: she's never surprised by what I have to offer her. "Max, do you care to explain these new additions?"

"Mom, this is Mayzie, and her brother Tamarind. They're, you know, Avian-American like us." I grin impishly at our little inside joke. I then tell my mom all about saving Mayzie's butt back at the School in Ontario, then saving her brother's in the back of that stalker-type white van.

"Erasers?" My mom frowns at this and her tanned brow furrows.

"There really more like machines now." Angel says.

My mom sighs and makes some exclamation in Spanish. I purse my lips and think about how I really need to get more into my heritage. Finally, Dr. Martinez looks up. "Look, kids, its late. Let's all just go back to sleep and talk about what to do in the morning."

"Glaaaaadly." Fang yawns. I elbow him.

"Manners!" I try to sound strict, but I can't keep from giggling at that request.

"Oh, indeed." Fang says in a mock British accent. This just makes me laugh even more, and he's laughing as well. He looks nice when he laughs.

As the laughter subsides, I notice that the rest of the Flock is quiet. Nudge flashes Angel a look. Iggy rolls his eyes. BLIND IGGY roles his eyes. After a few seconds, Total says, "Would you two just hook up and get it over with?" He then abruptly trots out of the room, followed by the rest of the Flock, including Mayzie and Tam.

"I-" Fang starts.

"Let's put the kids to bed, okay?" I interrupt. No. No. No. We are _not_ going to talk about _us. _Absolutely not.

"I… okay." He resigns himself to my attitude.

_Every time, Max, you do this every time. Once you're confronted with the possibility of a relationship with Fang, you just deny, deny, deny it._ Angel's thoughts echo into my head. _When will you just face the facts and let him in._

I grit my teeth to keep from shouting my thoughts out loud. _And when will you stop creeping on my thoughts, kid?_

Her reply comes in a few seconds, like she's trying to formulate exactly what to say. _Max, I just want you to be happy. And Fang is the one who can _make_ you happy. _

I don't even bother with her anymore. This is nonsense. "Come on." I mutter noncommittally to Fang and we head into the living room, where the couch has been pulled out into a bed, and the floor has on it one black air mattress and some foam pads my mom picked up for occasions just like this. The whole room is strewn with a ton of mismatched blankets. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel are all set to sleep on the couch-bed apparatus thing, Fang and Iggy claim the air mattress, and Mayzie, Tam, and I each grab a foam pad for ourselves. I flop down on the squishy material and all I can think is: _This is the life._ Ok, so maybe it isn't what most people would consider comfortable, but to a bunch of bird kids who've slept in subway tunnels and in trees, this is pretty damn nice.

Mayzie and Tamarind curl up close to each other and continue the frantic whispering they partook in the entire flight over. They've been pretty much inseparable ever since they were reunited a few hours ago. I can tell from the shaky tone of Tam's voice that he's talking about being in the tank. I think about my own time in the tank, and I almost shudder. Almost. Max doesn't shudder. I can barely pick out what he's saying but I catch a slight whisper: "Being in there… it made me think about things I never wanted to think about. Not just about the lab people but… About myself. When you're in there, it's just nothingness. Nothing but yourself." His voice, at the end, becomes so reedy and quiet that he can barely be understood. My back is to them, since I want them to think I'm asleep, not eavesdropping like a total tool… But I could swear that this kid is crying.

"I…I just never wanted to think about it before. I tried to ignore it." He whimpers.

"Do you mean… Tam?" Mayzie says, with more than a little anticipation in her voice.

"Yeah… You know. I thought a lot about… that. The way I am." Tamarind says with a little gasp, as if he is choking on the words.

"Oh, Tam!" Mayzie says, and I feel her shift to hug him. "You know I'm proud of you, and that I'm behind you all the way, don't you? Don't you?" she whispers a little fiercely.

"Yes." He says with a little shudder. Yup, definitely crying.

"Good." She says. "Now go to sleep. You've had a long day, kid."

"You're my twin, May, don't call me kid." He moans quietly.

"I'm still older." She says quietly. And then they're silent.

I wish I had a sibling, someone to know me so well. But then, I look around and I see my Flock all around me. These are my family members. This is my Flock. And each and every one of them is mine.

I gently fall into sleep, pacified by the security all around me. But it doesn't last. It never does.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But mayyyybe, if all of you little boys and girls review my stories enough, one day I might…. Write some more of this story But, actually, I do own the new character introduced here, soooo, ya know, here's another reason to REVIEW! Tell me all about your opinions of him. Just… anything, kay? Xoxo Nico'sGirl

AN: Just to explain things a little, this story takes place two years after Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, with the events in the three other books after it never happening. So that makes Max, Fang, and Iggy 16, Nudge 13, Gazzy 10, and Angel 8.

A creak. An infinitesimal little creak. But it's just enough to startle Nudge, who has barely been asleep the whole night. She sits up quickly, her heavy, black curls quivering. Thirteen years have trained her to be vigilant. She looks around, her pupils expanding to take in as much as they can in the dark. Then it comes again, a creak. _Creaaak. _

Nudge takes a shaky breath. _It's fine, it's fine, it's fine._ She thinks. _I'm in Arizona, I'm safe, no one can get me here. I'm being paranoid_. She tries to calm herself, but ends up rising from the pull-out couch and walks slowly into the kitchen, clasping her dark hands together and chewing on her lower lip. Her gut churns with the sensation that she is not alone. Then, Nudge rounds the corner and sees something that makes her heart stop.

The door is wide open.

Mrs. Martinez specifically locked the door a few hours ago, and now it lies open, with a pin sticking out of the lock from the outside. Someone broke in. Nudge opens her mouth and takes in a massive amount of air for a scream. But before she can let out that wall of sound, a hand clamps over her mouth and suddenly she is being dragged out the door. Her hands grasp wildly for the doorframe, but miss. The hand over her mouth is conspicuously furry. An Eraser. Nudge screams and screams and screams, but no sound escapes the cork of the hand. She then lies limp, hoping to attack once the grip on her relaxes a little. But the Eraser continues to carry her out across the lawn, until they are down the road, past the mailbox. Then, it stops. It just stands there, one had around Nudge's mouth, the other around her waist. It shakes a little. Then a voice.

"I'm sorry. I… I can't do this." It's a male voice. Suddenly the hands are gone from her body.

Nudge swivels around to attack, but something stops her. The Eraser is in the process of transforming back into a regular guy. Nudge hesitates for a second. _What the hell is stopping me?_ She thinks. Just to get that stupid thought out of her head, she sends a flying tornado kick into his face.

"Well then you better start explaining." She hisses, saying something that hopefully Max would approve of. All she ever tries to do is channel Max. Like Fang used to say, WWMD?

The guy, now fully un-Erasered, grabs at his face. Besides being, well, and _Eraser_, the guy is pretty… hot. Nudge purses her lips, a little ashamed to be thinking that way about an Eraser. But… He can't be much older than her. He looks to be about 5' 10" , with blond hair, and blue eyes. He looks strong, but not like one of those creepy over-muscled bodybuilder freaks.

"They… They sent me to take one of them. One of you, the Avian hybrids. They wanted the leader, the blonde one, but… I saw you coming and I… panicked." He is panting heavily, in an almost doglike way. "I'm sorry."

Nudge punches him in a fierce uppercut. "Like hell you are. I know all about you new Erasers. You're freaking machines, just doing what the School tells you without minds of your own. So don't try to make me believe that you're sorry, I know its just a lie from the School. You _maggots_ don't feel anything." Nudge spits at him, and then kicks him in the side with a blazing roundhouse. The sound of a rib cracking resonates in the night air.

The Eraser guy doubles over, clutching his side. "Please, please stop. I don't want to hurt you." He chokes out. "This was a mistake, please just go back to the house and forget I ever came. I… I just can't do it!" The guy looks near tears, and for a second, Nudge almost feels pity for him, and feels bad for the pain she's inflicting. _But,_ she thinks, _he's an Eraser. Everything he's saying is something the School taught him to say for this situation. He's probably just waiting for his helicopter to come carry me away like Angel. _But then, Nudge looks at him again. He's obviously in a lot of pain, and not a threat right now. She might as well practice her negotiating and interrogating skills.

"Well," she grasps for more things to ask. "Why does the School want me?"

The guy actually musters a laugh. "Why do you think? You and your friends are destroying all their buildings and equipment. You're slowly taking them out." There's something that sounds almost like admiration in his voice.

Then, she notices something. "You said 'they' instead of 'we'. About the School, I mean. Don't they Erasers count themselves as part of it?"

"The others do." He says, a bitterness echoing in his tones.

"And you're not like the others?" Nudge tries to lay on the sarcasm just as thickly as Max would.

"No." The guy whispers. Nudge is careful to notice that he no longer clutches his side in pain, and almost subconsciously prepares for a counterattack. "I hate them."

"Oh yeah? And why's that? Aren't they your sick little _teammates_?" Nudge puts her hand on her hips and gives her most intimidating Max-esque glare.

"Because something went wrong when they made me." The guy says. "And I'm damn proud to be a screw-up. I'm proud that the scientists didn't spend as much time on me as they should have. Because when they hastily made another model of the Eraser 3.0, they didn't completely alter my brain. So while the others are doing as the School tells them with barely enough judgment to decide what to eat for freaking _breakfast_, I can think for myself all the way. And I know that what the School is doing and what the Erasers are being made to do is _wrong_." His eyes glisten with enthusiasm as he denounces his creators. Nudge thinks he's probably been waiting a long time to find someone he can say this to.

"How come the School doesn't know that you have free will, if you're telling me the truth?" Nudge says, but she finds she's asking it more out of genuine curiosity than as an attempt to prove who pulls his strings.

"I hid it well. And I didn't even realize I was different as a kid, because, honestly, no kid really thinks for themselves anyway." He gives a wry little smile, one that would almost be cute if he wasn't, you know, an Eraser. "I do what they tell me, but they've never ordered me to do something this…. Drastic. So before I always followed through, because they ends justified the means. But… I just couldn't do it this time okay? I'll have to go back and tell them I failed and that, for starters, I grabbed the wrong kid, and then I screwed up even more, and let that one escape, and… I'll be punished. But, it'll be worth it, because I just couldn't do that to you." Nudge's eyes widen a little at this comment. "To any of you, I mean." He corrects quickly, appearing to be more than a little surprised at the comment as well.

"Right." Nudge inhales. "Right then." She wonders vaguely what she should do next, but her brain is a little preoccupied with… him. "I… Hey." She says, an idea coming to mind. "I don't know your name. Tell me your name."

"Alex. My name is Alex. A little… anticlimactic for a big, bad Eraser, I know. I guess you can just blame the lack of creativity of those scientists at the School." He says with a shrug. "But, hey, I don't know yours."

"Why not? The School _knows_ all our names. They were kind of a, you know, _presence_ in all our early lives." Once again, she tries to utilize that Maximum wit.

"They know, but they don't tell us. I think they feel that giving you names just makes you more like people. And as long as they feel that you aren't people, they don't feel bad about what they're doing to you. They don't feel bad about any of the experiments that way. If it doesn't have a name, it's not a person." Alex shakes his head. "It's goddamn pathetic."

Nudge sighs, almost a little hurt by this. Even though its just a small thing, its another betrayal from the School, just another thing that makes the list a little longer, makes it all that much more unbearable. First they torture and hunt them, okay, but they won't even admit that they have freaking _names? I'm not a damn _bacterium_! _Nudge fumes within. Then, she sees the look of expectancy upon Alex's face. "Nudge. My name was… Monique, back when I was born and my parents had me. But ever since I've been with the school, I've been Nudge." Nudge shrugs a little, as if it doesn't hurt at all that she's lost her name, the one thing her parents got to give her before she was snatched away from them for a life of cruel experimentation. "I saw a video of them once, you know. Them asking for me back. I saw it in one of the School's files, in one of those things we always find by 'accident'. It was probably just another one of the School's sick pranks, you know, the ones they always play on us where they give these bizarre bits of information to lead us on, to test us, you know, and they never make any sense, and the whole operation just gets more freaking convoluted and…" Nudge pauses. "Oh, God, I'm rambling again. Sorry. It's hard to be self-conscious but not self-aware, you know? Like, I'm always obsessed with looking bad to people, but I never know when I am…. And I think I'll just stop now."

"Don't be sorry." Alex says. "And I don't mind if you talk a lot. I like listening." They both stare at each other for a second, Nudge barely breathing.

"I think I should ignore that comment." She says.

"No, I don't think you should." Alex says, and he advances a step closer.

Nudge stiffens. "Look, _Eraser,_ I don't think it's a good idea for you to come any closer." She warns.

"But I think it is…. Monique." Then, suddenly Alex is on her. Like, _on her_, on her. Nudge even thinks about screaming, but all thoughts leave her mind as he kisses her. Her first kiss. Nudge always thought that her first kiss would take place after they'd defeated the School and the bird kids could be accepted into society, with some prince of a European country who wanted to marry her and fund her fashion line and give her all the romance in the world. NOT in Arizona in the middle of the night when she'd just been dragged out of bed and almost kidnapped with an _ERASER._

But, still, Nudge can't help but notice how good he feels. How warm. And soft. And sweet. How perfect and sublime it all is, even if it isn't what she wanted. But, now matter how right Alex is making her heart feel, Nudge still knows that it's _wrong_. So, as much as it pains her to do so, she pushes him away.

"No." she says, trying to be firm, and hoping he doesn't notice the fine quiver in her voice. "I can't. _You_ can't. This is wrong and I… I think you should go now. That was wrong."

"I'm sorry." He says. "You're… you're right. That was totally out of line of me. We're enemies, after all." He winks.

"Don't wink at me." Nudge hisses, feeling a sudden rush of aggression at his boldness, the way he just _knows_ that he can snap a finger and get her to come running. "Just… just get the hell out of here." She glares at him until he starts to back away. Nudge feels a little regret for pulling such a crazy mood swing on him, but she just has to get it through his head: That was wrong and ridiculous and they should have nothing to do with each other.

Alex backs away slowly. "Okay. Okay." He turns, walks away, turns back when he's halfway to the woods, and says. "Just don't forget me, okay? I swear I'll be back."

Then he disappears into the forest, and he's gone.

Nudge stumbles through the dark, back into the house, and through the kitchen. She hesitates before getting back in to bed, her mind racing. She runs a trembling hand through her hair and can only think to herself _Oh my God, what have I done? What have I started?_ Her mind is full of Alex, and it counts all the things she did tonight that would break Max's heart. She gets into bed as quietly and gently as possible, doing her best not to wake Gazzy and Angel. Then she closes her eyes and resigns herself to dreams.


End file.
